The Middle East is now subject to a conjoncture of political instability, economic dysfunction, growing religious extremism and seemingly endless war which is bringing misery and hardship to tens of millions of its citizens, and with a capacity to increase already shocking levels of violence in a zone stretching from the Afghan-Pakistan border to the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

In the late summer of 2015 the crisis took on a new and frightening dimension. A year of escalating violence in Syria and Iraq, driven by the Islamic fanaticism of ISIS, has unleashed a huge wave of refugees fleeing for their lives and seeking sanctuary mostly in the member states of the European Union.

With the added violence of the terrorist attacks in Paris and now Brussels, this has become for Europe perhaps the gravest crisis of its kind since the Second World War and engages the continent in the day to day affairs of the Middle East in ways that are unprecedented. Our conference, taking place at the heart of the EU in Berlin, will we hope contribute towards an understanding of the region’s multiple crises, and explore paths to their solution.

Free and open to all; registration required. To submit a request for registration, please use this form. Space is extremely limited. Submission of a request for registration does not guarantee entry.

Form at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dte6C0KnyY_l9ZnoJPHx6Z_QcjBZkqHmKKBpM6tsGrg/viewform?c=0&w=1

2. The Global Humanities Translation Prize

Funded by the Global Humanities Initiative

Northwestern University

Deadline for submissions: August 1, 2016

Northwestern University’s Global Humanities Initiative is pleased to announce the establishment of a new Global Humanities Translation Prize. The goal of the prize is to encourage new translations of important literary, scholarly, and other humanistic works from around the world, particularly in non-Western languages, and thereby help bring greater international attention to such works and a renewed measure of academic prestige to the craft of translation itself.

The Prize will be awarded annually to a previously unpublished translation that strikes the delicate balance beween scholarly rigor, aesthetic grace, and general readability, as judged by a rotating committee of distinguished international scholars and literati.

For further details, please visit the Global Humanities Initiative website: http://buffett.northwestern.edu/programs/global-humanities/index.html

And http://buffett.northwestern.edu/programs/global-humanities/2016-translation-prize.html

All other queries should be directed to the Initiative’s co-directors, Rajeev Kinra (r-kinra@northwestern.edu) or Laura Brueck (laura.brueck@northwestern.edu), while complete dossiers should be submitted by August 1 to the Global Humanities Initiative: ghi@northwestern.edu

3. Call for film review

The Journal of the Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia (ACME) welcomes film reviews for his journal. Should you like to review a particular documentary or send us one to review please email the film review editor:

Dr Michael Abecassis directly to: michael.abecassis@modern-langs.ox.ac.uk

For general enquiries and Instructions for Authors, please visit:

acmejournal.org

4. Call for submissions (Winter 2017): The Journal of the Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia (ACME) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the anthropological studies of all societies and cultures in the Middle East and Central Eurasia. http://www.easaonline.org/networks/amce/index.shtml Its scope is to publish original research by social scientists not only in the area of anthropology but also in sociology, folklore, religion, material culture and related social sciences. It includes all areas of modern and contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia (Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China) including topics on minority groups and religious themes. The journal also will review monographic studies, reference works, results of conferences, and international workshops. ACME also publishes review essays, reviews of books and multimedia products (including music, films, and web sites) relevant to the main aims of the journal. All submissions for articles are peer-reviewed. ACME is published with the financial support and collaboration of Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies (IPGS) program at the Oklahoma State University. Founder&Chief Editor-Pedram Khosronejad- Oklahoma State University, USA; Assistant Editor- Leonardo Schiocchet, Institute for Social Anthropology (ISA) Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria; Book Review Editor- Brian Callan- Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK.; Film Review Editor-Michael Abecassis, University of Oxford, UK. For general enquiries and Instructions for Authors, please visit: http://www.seankingston.co.uk/publishing.html

5. Conference – The Ottomans and Entertainment (Cambridge, UK, 29 June-2 July 2016)

Organised by Kate Fleet and Ebru Boyar, this conference will be held at the Skilliter Centre for Ottomans Studies at Newnham College, Cambridge, from 29 June to 2 July 2016. Papers will consider Ottoman entertainment in the widest possible sense, from specific areas of entertainment (including performing arts, religious festivities, excursions, consumption, travel, night life, violence as entertainment and entertainment for troops in war) to Ottoman concepts of leisure and pleasure, the division between acceptable and unacceptable entertainment and the social, political and economic impact of entertainment.

The panels are entitled:
– Entertainment in the City
– Sociability and Wordplay
– Entertainment and the Court
– Entertainment and Identity
– Visual Entertainment
– Entertainment Seen from Outside
– Entertainment and Healing
– Prostitution
– Entertainment and Modernity

The conference is free and open to all.

For the full programme, see https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8al61dpPhPhZjA1ZTZ0WjRKUk0/view?usp=sharing

For further details, please contact Kate Fleet (khf11@cam.ac.uk) or Ebru Boyar (boyar@metu.edu.tr).

6. ‘Bodies of Text: Learning to be Muslim in West Africa’.

International conference on 30 June-1 July at the Department for African Studies and Anthropology, University of Birmingham.

The programme explores the practices, disciplines and debates through which West Africans learn to be Muslims. Focusing on the elaborate and complex systems of Islamic learning that have emerged in the region, we ask how knowledge about being Muslim is passed on and acquired through the circulation of ideas and texts, and through physical, emotional and social forms of discipline. In the often multi-religious and multi-ethnic societies of West Africa, how does one learn to be Muslim and differentiate oneself from non-Muslim others? And how does one develop a particular Islamic identity amongst many ways of being Muslim?

For more information, see:

http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/historycultures/departments/dasa/events/cadbury/index.aspx

www.knowingeachother.com

or contact D.Kerr@bham.ac.uk

7. The Maqāma and its Readers: A Workshop on Arabic and Hebrew Literatures

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, Friday, May 27th 2016

Location: White Levy Room

9:30 am Coffee & mini muffins – Foyer White‐Levy Room

9:45‐10:00 Opening Remarks and Welcome

Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study) & Maurice A. Pomerantz (NYU Abu
Dhabi/Institute for Advanced Study)

10:00‐10:45 Bilal Orfali (American University of Beirut)
“Two Picaresque Tales and a Yellow Cow: Black Humor and Qurʾānic References in
Hamadhānī’s al‐Maqama al‐Mawṣiliyya”

10:45‐11:30 Maurice A. Pomerantz (NYU Abu Dhabi)
“Hamadhānī’s Maqāmāt and its Readers: The Examples of Ibn Nāqiyā and al‐Ḥarīrī”

11:30‐12:15 Matthew Keegan (New York University)
“The Ethical Dimension of al‐Ḥarīrī’s Maqāmāt: The View from Al‐Panjdīhī’s
Commentary”

12:15‐1:30 Lunch – Simons Hall

1:30‐2:15 Devin Stewart (Emory University)
“The Anti‐Shiism of al‐Hamadhānī and the Maqāmāt”

2:15‐2:30 Response by Hassan Ansari (Institute for Advanced Study)

2:30‐3:00 Coffee Break –Foyer White‐Levy Room

3:00‐3:45 Jonathan Decter (Brandeis University)
“Judah al‐Ḥarīzī as a Bilingual Author”

3:45‐4:30 Raymond P. Scheindlin (Jewish Theological Seminary)
“Religious Themes in the Tahkemoni by Judah al‐Harizi”

4:30‐5:15 Orit Bashkin (University of Chicago)
“Monks in Love, Greedy Priests and Muslim Tricksters: On the image of the Other in
Post‐Andalusī Hebrew Maqāmāt”

5:15‐5:30 Closing Remarks (Sabine Schmidtke & Maurice A. Pomerantz)

maurice.pomerantz@nyu.edu

8. Now Accepting Proposals: The Modern Muslim World

Gorgias Press is delighted to announce the launch of its new inter-disciplinary book series: The Modern Muslim World. The series will provide a platform for scholarly research on Islamic and Muslim thought, emerging from any geographic area and dated to any period from the 17th century until the present day. Academics dealing with any aspect of the Muslim world, irrespective of their specialisations (history, theology, philosophy, anthropology, science, art, economics, etc.), are invited to contribute to the series.

The series will accept proposals for original monographs, translations and edited volumes related to these broad areas of research. The series is open to established and early career academics, as well as to postgraduate researchers intending to publish revised doctoral theses. All accepted submissions will be peer-reviewed by two specialists and the series is overseen by two editorial boards comprising some of the leading scholars in the field.

To submit a proposal, please send the following information to Gorgias’ Islamic Studies Acquisitions Editor: adam@gorgiaspress.com:

A cover letter or e-mail.
An abstract of the book.
A table of contents.
Sample chapters (or all chapters).
A copy of your C.V. with two referees.

Series Editorial Board:

Professor Hina Azam, The University of Texas at Austin
Professor Marcia Hermansen (Chair), Loyola University Chicago
Professor Ussama Makdisi, Rice University
Professor Martin Nguyen, Fairfield University
Professor Joas Wagemakers, Utrecht University

Advisory Editorial Board:

Professor Talal Asad, City University of New York
Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl, University of California, Los Angeles
Amira Bennison, University of Cambridge
Professor Islam Dayeh, Freie Universität Berlin
Professor Marwa Elshakry, Columbia University
Rana Hisham Issa, University of Oslo
Professor Tijana Krstic, Central European University
Professor Ebrahim Moosa, University of Notre Dame
Professor Adam Sabra, University of California, Santa Barbara
Professor Armando Salvatore, McGill University
Professor Adam Talib, American University of Cairo

Posted in: Academic items

May 27, 2016
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – ADHRB newsletter 157

ADHRB Weekly: Zainab and son wait for Bahrain to fulfill its “humanitarian” promise

Posted in: News, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia

May 25, 2016
by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – International Shia Day

Shia Rights Watch

Posted in: News

May 24, 2016
by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – Academic Items

1. Institute for Advanced Study, School of Historical Studies – Opportunities for Scholars 2017-2018, School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=52830

College of Charleston – Visiting Assistant Professor, field open
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=52955
Preference is for candidates who can teach the pre-modern courses, but applicants in all fields are welcome.

2. British Museum, Middle East
Curator: Islamic Collections
Full time
Fixed Term: 6 months in duration
£27,905 per annum pro-rata
Ref: 1555788
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=52961

3. International Workshop: “Authority in Islam: Dialectics of Fragmentation & Plurality in Muslim Eurasia”, Indiana University, Bloomington, 24-25 March 2017

The workshop is part of an ambitious long-term initiative that aims to assess and analyze the causes, spectrum, and consequences of (seemingly) increasingly diverse, decentralized and disjointed practices of religious authority in Muslim societies, both regionally and comparatively.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 July 2016. Information: https://authorityinislamblog.wordpress.com/contact/

4. University Lectureship in Classical Arabic Studies, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge

The lecturer will be required to deliver lectures, hold classes and give seminars in Classical Arabic Studies, and to supervise graduate and undergraduate dissertations. The position is to begin 1 September 2016. This appointment is fixed term for one year.

Deadline for application: 12 June 2016. Information: http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/faculty/jobs/classical_arabic-lecturer

5. “The Ninth Festival for the Selection of the Best Book of the Year on Imam Reza (A.S.)”

On the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Alim Aal i-Muhammad[The Most Learned in the Family of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)] Hadrat Imam Ali Bin Musa-ar-Reza (A.S.) and Hadrat Fatima Masumah (S.A.), sister of Imam Reza (A.S.), which is celebrated as ‘The Ten Days of Generosity’, the Organization of Libraries, Museums and Center of Deeds of Astan Quds Razavi with the cooperation of the Imam Reza (A.S.) Cultural and Artistic International Foundation will conduct
“The Ninth International Festival for the Selection of the Best Book of the Year on Imam Reza (A.S.)”
Compilations, Translations and Dissertations with the subject of Imam Reza (A.S.) and His Family
This event will be the part of the programs of the Fourteenth International Festival on Imam Reza (A.S.).

Goals
—- Dissemination and promotion of the radiant culture of Imam Reza (A.S.).
—- Expanding the scientific, artistic and research activities related to the life and different dimensions of the personality of Imam Reza (A.S.), the Eighth Shining Star in the Sky of Imamat (Divine Leadership).
—- Recognizing, commending and supporting the creators and producers of the distinguished cultural and artistic works on the culture of Imam Reza (A.S.) and helping in the extensive publications of these works.

Sections of the Festival
Section One, Best Book
The themes for the selection of the ‘Best Book of the Year’ on Imam Reza (A.S.)
–The sciences and learning of Imam Reza (A.S.).
–The life and history of Imam Reza (A.S.).
–The Ziyarah (Pilgrimage) of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.).
— The medicinal system prescribed by Imam Reza (A.S.).
–Poems
–Anecdotes
–Children and youth
–Translation
–Foreign languages
For every winner in the above-mentioned sections will be awarded with the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.

Section Two, Best Digital Book
First Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.
Second Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.
Third Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.

Section Three, Best Thesis
First Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.
Second Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.
Third Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.

Section Four, Best Publisher
First Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.
Second Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.
Third Rank: Awarding the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes.

Section Five, The works deserved to be published
For the winners in the above-mentioned section the plaque of the festival, appreciation certificate and exquisite prizes will be awarded. The Secretariat of the Festival will make the efforts to publish these selected works.

– The exquisite prizes include paying all the tour expenses to perform the Umrah and pilgrimage to the holy places in Iraq and the holy city of Mashhad.
-All the winners will be accepted as the guests of the secretariat of the festival. Specialized sessions and educational workshops will be conducted on the sidelines of the festival with the presence of the guests and distinguished scholars.
Transport, boarding and lodging expenses of the guests will be borne by the Secretariat of the Festival.

Events Dates
Last date of sending the work: July 6, 2016
Date of conducting the festival in the Holy City of Mashhad: August 8, 2016

Examining
Examining of the works will be done by the experienced scholars of the Islamic seminaries and universities.

Conditions
—-The works sent to five sections will be accepted for selection in the below-mentioned two subjects:
A-Works with the subjects related to Imam Reza (A.S.).
B- Works with the subjects related to the family of Imam Reza (A.S.) [Imam Muhammad Taqi al-Jawad (A.S.), Hadrat Husain Bin Musa al-Kazim (A.S.), Ahmad Bin Musa al-Kazim (A.S.)[Shah Chiragh] and Hadrat Fatima Masumah (S.A.).
—- The works sent with the subjects related to Imam Reza (A.S.) should have been published in the years 2015 and 2016.
—-The works can be sent in Farsi (Persian) and all other foreign languages.
—-Every applicant should send one copy each of the work to the secretariat.
—-The works sent to the Secretariat will not be returned.
—-More than one work from a person will be accepted.

Permanent Secretariat of the Festival
Central Library of the Astan Quds Razavi
Shaykh Tousi Sanctuary (Bast)
The Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.)
Holy City of Mashhad
Islamic Republic of Iran
P.O. Box No: 91735-177
Tele-fax: 0098-51-32235441
Telephone: 0098-51-32232004-8
Website: http://www.library.aqr.ir, http://library.aqr.ir/ketabsal ,
Email: info.lib@aqr.ir , ketabsal@aqlibrary.ir ,

Application Form
The works related to the subjects of “The Eighth Festival for the Selection of the Best Book of the Year on Imam Reza (A.S.)” can be registered by filling the ‘Application Form’
Best Book Best Digital Book Best Thesis Best Publisher The works deserved to be published
Title of the Work: Name and Surname of the Author: Year of Publication: Copies: Print: Subject of the Work:
Telephone No: Email: Fax:
Address:
Last date of sending the work: July 6, 2016

6. Eurasian Empires Program – Leiden University Institute for History, June 15-17, 2016
On 15-17 June, the final conference of the Eurasian Empires Program will take place in Leiden. Leading scholars in the field from all over the world will participate in five themed panels.

There will be two keynote speakers, the first of whom is Gülrü Necipoglu on Wednesday 15 June, with a lecture entitled ‘Transregional Connections: Architecture and the Construction of Early Modern Islamic Empires.’ On Friday 17 June, Nicola Di Cosmo will conclude the conference with his lecture ‘Climate and Eurasian Empires: What to Make of Proxy Data and their Historical Relevance.’

Besides international scholars, many of the group’s members will participate in the conference, either as presenters or in the role of chair and/or discussant.
The panels are entitled, respectively:
– Methodology, Theory, Approaches
– Dynastic Change and Legitimacy
– People of the Pen
– People of the Sword
– Gender and Power

Interested members of the public are most welcome to attend the lectures and panel sessions.
The full program and abstracts for all talks can be found here:
http://hum.leiden.edu/history/eurasia/news/final-conference.html

7. Call for Papers

Global Reformations: Transforming Early Modern Religions, Societies, and Cultures: An international, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary conference, 27-30 SEPTEMBER 2017

Sponsored by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, Victoria College, at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

150 WORD ABSTRACTS DUE: 31 MAY 2016

What is Reformation, and where? Who does it impact, and how? This conference invites a sustained, comparative, and interdisciplinary exploration of religious transformations in the early modern world. Scholars who once confidently framed the Reformation as a sixteenth-century European Protestant phenomenon now look expansively across different confessions, faiths, time periods, and geographical areas.

The early modern world saw a great increase in contacts between religious traditions and their believers. Many meetings were fraught with the tensions of alterity. All contacts generated new forms of accommodation, exclusion, communication, exchange, and transformation. Our interdisciplinary conference will explore the resulting cultural, historical, art historical, literary, and intellectual disruptions and convergences. We will probe the inter-actions that developed across confessional lines, and the unanticipated consequences that ripple out across the globe from the religious schisms in Europe. Many of these inter-faith contacts are driven by dynamics arising directly from the Reformation, and this is the theme we plan to explore in the conference.

We aim to bring together scholars researching art, architecture, theatre, music, literature, religion, book history, print culture, as well as intellectual and social history. Together we will explore how the transmission and translation of material, textual, and cultural practices create identity and cross-cultural identifications in contexts that are animated by the effort to reform, purify, or convert others.

For further information, including an initial list of possible themes, or to submit a proposal (no more than 150 words, together with a brief biography and contact information) please see: crrs.ca/globalreformations

Heather Coffey
Assistant Professor of Art History
OCAD University

8. CFP – Middle East Librarians Association (Boston, 15-17 November 2016)

Partnerships: Enhancing opportunities is this year’s theme for the annual Middle East Librarians Association (MELA) meeting. The meeting will be hosted by the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT, and will take place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, 15-17 November 2016.

Middle East librarians, and more generally Area Studies librarians, have a long history of cooperation and partnerships. Indeed, it is through partnerships that programs such as the Middle East Cooperative Acquisitions Program (MECAP), and the Center for Research Libraries’ (CRL) Middle East Materials Project (MEMP) developed. These programs have been instrumental for our communities, the research being conducted, and highlight some of the larger initiatives that have taken place over the years. Other large scale projects have made collections available digitally encouraging and enabling new avenues of scholarship. The profusion of digital humanities projects being created highlights the ever-changing ways in which scholars interact with each other, scholarship is produced, and is providing enhanced opportunities for long-distance and international partnerships.

Partnering with institutions to further our goals as a community is essential; we invite papers of no more than 20 minutes exploring historical and contemporary partnerships. Preference will be given to partnerships with libraries (or museums) in the MENA region.

Presentations dedicated to investigating, analysing, and discussing the opportunities, challenges, and experiences with all types of partnerships are welcome, including but not limited to:

Community building
Collection development
Rights, rules, and regulations of multi-party ownership
Resource sharing
Digitization practices
Documentation practices
Negotiating standards
Enhancing metadata for accessibility across platforms
Reciprocal agreements for shared materials

Submission guidelines
• Proposals should be a maximum of 250 words.
• Please send your proposals to vice-president@mela.us in a word document.
• Proposals will be reviewed by the Program Committee.
• Proposals must include a title and clearly demonstrate relevancy to this year’s theme, Partnerships: Enhancing opportunities.
• Submission deadline is 31 August 2016.
• Session format is a 30 minute presentation (20 minute presentation with 10 minutes for questions).
Notification
• All submitters will be notified by 21 September 2016.
• All presenters will be asked to submit a brief biography (max 100 words), a photograph, and an abbreviated abstract to be published in the program and posted on the MELA website.
• All presenters will be asked to make their presentation available on the conference website.

While MELA is not in a position to pay honoraria or provide financial support for travel and lodging, we will waive program registration fees for presenters. Presenters are expected to be full paid MELA members.

9. Call for papers: Conference “Spatial Thought in Islamicate Societies, 1000–1600: The Politics of Genre, Image, and Text”, University of Tübingen, Germany, 30 March–1 April 2017

Place and space are now increasingly understood as invented reference systems that are entangled with political, religious, cultural, and intellectual history. This conference explores the ongoing shift of the history of geography and cartography to a diversely linked spatial history of the Islamicate world. Special emphasis is placed on genre, authorship, theme, and reception.

Deadline for registration: 30 June 2016. Information: http://www.spatial-thought.uni-tuebingen.de
Kurt Franz (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)
Zayde Antrim (Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.)
Jean-Charles Ducène (École pratique des hautes études, Paris)

10. Workshop: Structural Dividers in Qur’anic Material

Dates: 3-4 June 2016
Location: Centre of Islamic Studies, SOAS, University of London
Registration: A limited number of free places are available, by application. Precedence will be given to university staff and to graduate students. Please contact Marianna Klar on mk81@soas.ac.uk to register.

Program:
https://networks.h-net.org/node/8330/discussions/125180/workshop-structural-dividers-quranic-material

11. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Volume 26 – Issue 1-2 – January 2016
SPECIAL DOUBLE ISSUE
The Mongols and Post-Mongol Asia: Studies in Honour of David O. Morgan
is available online at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=JRA&volumeId=26&seriesId=0&issueId=1-2&etoc=Y